Human History
The first of the six original races created for our world, when humans were created they were designated as the beings of land and air. It would be up to humans to ensure that the arable lands were tilled and that their powerful spiritus would spread across the world. This was for the simple reason that Heaven's denizens gain their status from faith, and as such, the more beings spread across the extent, the more faith could be acquired. Humans were also created with spiritus that could easily adapt to that of the other five races to be created soon after them. This would ensure that the gene pool would always stay fresh due to the endless possibilities available. For a few eons, the humans, alva, naga, fae , dwarves and merfolk lived in a state of paradise, a utopia existed where everyone treated each other well and the different races mixed freely. However, it came to pass that Nephyrias, an arrogant god, had decided that his station was far higher than anyone living on Praxis and as such descended with a host of angels, gods and goddesses loyal to him with the intention of taking husbands and wives for themselves. Humans were the main target of their ambitions as humans produced the most powerful faith and spiritus of all of the original races. No human was safe, whether betrothed or not and Nephyrias was able to build a great empire, the second on Praxis after Jottunheim. The Prime God was furious, as Nephyrias's influence had brought depravity and arrogance to His once peaceful and pure world. After a protracted war between Heaven and Nephyrias which lasted for about five millennia, the conceited god was cowed and dragged back to Heaven for judgement. Nephyrias was demoted from god to Seraphim and his host received a similar fate. Humans however had changed, wars had begun to break out as some groups deemed themselves better than others. Various dark practices had begun to spread and it was under the strain of this environment that the Prime God came up with the position of Principal God. A Principal God would govern the world in the Prime God's place allowing Him to concentrate on creating and managing other worlds and Heaven itself. With the first being the Principal God Parvati, it was not long before dark practices and hostilities were reined in and humans once again began to flourish, wars had disappeared once more leading to a time of tranquillity. With the world peaceful once more Parvati handed the mantle of Principal God to Athena, a wise and skilled Goddess. As the Principal God, Athena taught the races many new skills, She taught how to build complex civilisations, the written word, the art of mathematics, inspiration, artistry and the meaning of true courage, she taught many other skills too. Her rule was relatively successful and all of the races grew almost exponentially in wisdom and artistry. It is said that this became the period known as "The Age of Marvels" many increasingly complex technologies were discovered and utilised allowing humans to live lives of great comfort and bliss. At about this time however Nephyriel, unhappy with his failure so many millennia back, rebelled against the Prime God by deceiving a priestess known as Pandora into opening a box which was in fact a gate to the lower levels of Heaven where darker energies were kept contained. This contaminated the world with sin, which in particular adulterated the humans and alva. The humans began to treat each other unkindly and became arrogant towards their fellow inhabitants, particularly the naga and alva. If this had not already been bad enough, the arrogance of humans began to be turned not only on each other, but to the gods and Heaven itself. Humans believed all of the answers were in their grasp, and that the gods were unnecessary. People who followed the gods were considered crazy and ostracised from society. Those who began to claim their live-in friends were a form of angel were not treated as eccentric or imaginative, but were instead considered as a menace themselves. This stance continued for a a few millennia until "The Rending of the Veil", an event in which the sky tore asunder and a voice proclaimed to all that for the conceit displayed, all of the races would have one millennium to prepare for the greatest threat ever, an abomination which would require teamwork to defeat. A millennium later, a great hero born from the commingling of all six of the original races defeated the horror, which led to the event known as "The Blinding Pillar" as well as "The Piercing of Heaven's Pearl". It is believed that this is the period when "The Eye of the Moon" formed. The great energies released not only damaged the moon, but also caused great floods and devastation which brought about a massive drop in the human and alva population. "The Age of Qualms" followed this period for a few millennia, in which humans, using the technologies which remained attempted to eke out an existence and reclaim the life lived in The Age of Marvels. The appeal of war had faded as the humans and other races alike lived in a shattered world struggling simply to survive. It was also around this time that the Demon Lord arose, a feared being who brought tribulations upon the world with his grand forces. Possibly the most macabre and dreaded members of his legion were without a doubt, the Succubi, a race who would steal humans' souls through soul-numbing coitus. Twenty-five millennia would pass with a repetitive cycle of death and rebirth, the alva still held onto their conceit, however the fae and dwarven folk had begun to mix with humans once more. Their commingling of genes and blood, imbued the human race with both magic and tenacity, helping in the creation of heroes who defended the weak and routed the Demon Lord every few thousand years. During this period many of the technologies of The Age of Marvels were lost, usually through raids perpetrated by the Demon Lord's forces. War now was solely an act of survival, and was waged against the Demon Lord and its minions. It was an enormous shock when, five hundred years ago, as attacks from monsters appeared to be undergoing a gradual decline, a traitorous succubus general known as Seretique betrayed and assassinated the Demon Lord claiming the mantle for herself. After this turn of events, a new Principal God by name of Eiraiha made Herself known and a few years later all monsters switched to the now common name mamonme. Not only did their race change its name, but their forms changed to those of surprising, in fact haunting beauty. Human men began to disappear at a rapid rate, the prevailing notion was that they had been eaten, however no person could be certain of this. With this spate of disappearances, an organisation known as the Luminaire, made an appearance. This took place two hundred and fifty years ago. The Luminaire espoused a doctrine of love and virtue and warned against drowning one's self in lasciviousness. Many quickly adopted their beautiful message which came from Eiraiha herself and she became one of the most loved Principal Gods in recorded history. However those who ran the Luminaire were only human, and within half a century, the Luminaire had changed its stance to that of defender of the humans with the enemy being deemed to be the Demon Lord Seretique vi Alloriel, an apparently vicious succubus. The "Centenary War" which took place over a period of one hundred years saw the Luminaire gain control of Caeronne, Eulae, Cambris, Aterie, Labriene, Devensie, Wolstolyn, Mousteri, Aurigna, Beestaere and Fenno. The Luminaire now called the alliance of eleven states "The Luminaire Kingdoms". They put forth their gospel of war against the Demon Lord and claimed it was Eiraiha's will that all mamonme should be purged from the lands, many believe them implicitly, however many of those outside the kingdoms look on with scornful disdain. Over a century has passed since, and the heartlands of the Luminaire Kingdoms now boast spectacular cathedrals, galleries and cities, in fact Cambris is renowned for the impressive artistry found within its cities, Fenno is well known for its impressive cathedrals and monuments. Within the Luminaire itself one can find a rigid top down hierarchy which holds everything in place. Those factions cropping up within its ranks who question the organisation are often crushed or are branded as heretics, two well-known examples are The Gentle Flame's husband Erien Meadlowry as well as Perric Ahndahvel the husband of a popular Werewolf Queen known by the name Pahkti Ahndahvel. Both deserted the Luminaire after discovering the difference between Eiraiha's original teachings and the Luminaire's current doctrine. Many young soldiers who are unhappy leave the Luminaire, fleeing the Kingdoms and heading for neutral or friendly states beyond its borders. Nowadays, humans living outside the Kingdoms have become a somewhat acceptant lot, however there are many who prefer to stick to their exclusivity, and as such create "Hostile States". In Neutral and Friendly states, the Luminaire's soldiers or knights have acquired the disparaging epithet "Lantern Lighters" and are often utterly unwelcome within Friendly States. More and more mamonme are allowed to live with humans, however while they have been shown to be a mostly peaceful group, human marriages and birthrates have been declining under their influence. Category:History